LOCAL VARIATION IN BARBARY MACAQUE SHRILL BARKS

We examined vocalizations of Barbary macaques, Macaca sylvanus, given in response to a dog, in two populations, at Rocamadour, France, and S alem, Germany. Calls were recorded from 16 individuals in Rocamadour a nd 23 individuals in Salem. Despite an overall similarity, an acoustic analysis revealed significant differences in the call structure betwe en populations. To test the perceptual salience of these acoustic diff erences, we conducted playback experiments in both populations in whic h calls from the own or the other population were broadcast. The overa ll response pattern did not differ significantly between the populatio ns with regard to the origin of the call, However, subjects responded slightly, but significantly longer after playback of calls from the ot her group. Although call function apparently determined the general re sponse of subjects, they none the less discriminated between calls fro m different origins. These results suggest a small but possibly meanin gful plasticity in call production. (C) 1998 The Association for the S tudy of Animal Behaviour.